11.1V 5200mah Li-Ion not working for Gamecube

[kyal16]

I have a 11.1V 5200mah battery pack consisting of 3S in series. I have the PCM wired correctly and have just charged it. I should be able to apply the same leads as the ones I charged the battery with straight to the input power for the GameCube? Any feedback would be great

 

[Bush]

Yes. Think of the battery leads as having input and output. You can input a charger to it or flip a switch to have the battery output to the cube. It's going to act just like your normal power supply, so just feed it to the regulators.

 

[kyal16]

Thanks Bush,
It almost seems like the batteries aren't outputting anything. Ive put the leads on both the GameCube and my screen and nothing will turn on...

 

[kyal16]

Here is the battery pack:

 

[Bush]

Do you have a multimeter? Your batteries may have a low charge or might be sleeping. Most PCBs will lock into a "safe" mode when a short circuit occurs, and can be woken up by connecting them to your charger briefly. Additionally, the issue may lie in the current charge of the battery. An 11.1v pack doesn't actually constantly put out that voltage; it's more of the average voltage. In reality, a full charge will give you 12.6v to start out and drop until a full discharge at around 9.9v. I believe the GC needs 10.2v to run, so when you go past that you won't be able to power it.

 

[kyal16]

Okay thanks a ton Bush, I'll be getting a multimeter shortly, honestly don't know how I'd finish anything without one does the battery pack at least look correctly wired? Sorry about all the questions, but do you know at about what percent would be left in the pack by the time it gets to around 10.2V?

 

[Bush]

10.2 is relatively close to when the PCB would shut off the battery anyway. As long as you didn't rewire anything and it worked before it should now.

 

[kyal16]

I've been charging the battery pack for awhile now... I just tested it and nothin. I won't be totally sure what voltage the pack is at until I get a multimeter. Any thing else that may cause the problem? Thanks a lot

 

[Bush]

I don't know what it could be then. You could just have a worn out battery that won't hold a charge anymore.

 

[kyal16]

I charged the dang pack until it the chargers led went green and even then the pack won't light an led and resistor! Honestly I don't have a clue as to what might be wrong...

 

[kyal16]

Here is the PCM I got http://www.all-battery.com/protectioncircuitmodulepcbfor111vli-ionbatterypack3cells-32007.aspx it is rated at 9A working and 17A max. Does that mean it needs 9A?

 

[Prog]

I think it means that 9A can be drawn continuously through it without issue but it can handle spikes up to 17A.

 

[kyal16]

If that is true then I don't know why the batteries are not working. I'll post the results once I get a multimeter. Thanks so far guys

 

[Bush]

Unfortunately there isn't much else we can go off until you can check it with the meter. You could also have issues with your wiring. Did you wire the PCB yourself, or was it already wired? Also, can you see if the batteries will power anything else? That would help you to rule things out.

 

[kyal16]

Yes I wired it myself going off of the diagram from AllBattery. I'll be checking all the batteries with the multimeter tomorrow

 

[Bush]

If you wired it, check your joints and for any shorts.

 

[kyal16]

Good news, I used the multimeter on each individual battery and they each registered about 4V. I then did combinations of each and they were at 8.04 and 12.06. The only thing that has no voltage is the output. It charged correctly but I don't know why it won't put out any thing

 

[kyal16]

I am happy to make this topic SOLVED! I ordered a new PCM from AllBattery and this one being 3A working and it works! I have successfully powered the GameCube and screen off the pack. It may have been that the PCM DOES need 9A to work, or it was just faulty. Anyways, thanks a TON for your guys help. Props to everyone on the forum putting out guide and tutorials!

 

[Bush]

So, are you pulling that many amps with your setup? I feel like you shouldn't hit 3amps with just the cube and a recently made lcd, or I could be dead wrong.

 

[kyal16]

I highly doubt that the setup is pulling 3A, now that I think about it, the first PCM must've been faulty